Wire fabric seam



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WIRE FABRIC sEAM Filed 0G12. 50. 1933 s i n 1 J- iz Z Z T C -v 3 T A it 3 LJLWU L., LJ

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Patented Sept. 11, 1934 PATENT GFFICE WIRE FABRIC SEAM Albert B. Weissenborn and William E. Buchanan, Appleton, Wis., assignors to Appleton Wire Works, Inc., Appleton, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application October 30, 1933, Serial No. 695,731

2 Claims. (Cl. 245-10) The invention relates to seams for wire fabrics, such as Fourdrinier wires and the like.

In a Fourdrinier wire belt which is subjected to severe bending, it is desirable to have a hinge ac- For this purpose a seam has heretofore been provided in which a lacing wire engages the end weft Wire of each of the joined fabric ends. It is found that this type of seam will permit relative lateral and edgewise shifting of the joined fabric ends, especially after the wire belt has been in service.

An object of the invention is to provide a wire fabric seam in which a lacing wire is engaged with the end weft wire of one of the fabric ends to permit hinge action, and is engaged with a weft wire of the other fabric ends spaced from the end weft wire thereof to prevent relative shifting of the joined fabric ends and to increase the service life of the belt.

The invention further consists in the several features hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a wire fabric having a seam in accordance with the invention, and

Fig. 2 is a sectional View thereof taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

In the drawing, 10 indicates the warp wires of a Fourdrinier wire fabric and 11 the weft wires thereof, the two ends to be joined by the seam being indicated by A and B respectively. In trimming the ends of the fabric preparatory to forming the seam, the warp wires are cut approximately midway between two adjacent weft wires, and the end weft wire of at least one of the severed fabric edges is soldered, brazed, or welded to the ends of the warp wires, as indicated at 12. rI'he two ends A and B of the fabric are then stitched together with a lacing wire 13 passing around the soldered end weft wire of the part A and around the second last weft wire of the part B, the lacing wire advancing one Warp wire beneath the seam and one warp above the seam in completing each stitch or cycle. Preferably,

all the loops or convolutions of the lacing wire pass around the second last weft wire of the part B. In choosing the location of the trimming, it is preferably done so that the opposite ends of each warpwire are alike, that is, both are terminated after having passed above the end weft wire, or both are terminated after having passed beneath the end weft wire, as the case may be. This relation permits the lacing Wire 13 to be included substantially between the surface planes of the fabric. If desired, the seam may be rolled.

When the fabric is in use, the part A has a hinge action on the lacing wire 13, but the latter is held substantially rigid with respect to the part B, thus preventing relative lateral or edgewise shifting of the fabric parts.

The seam possesses substantially the same degree of open mesh as the body of the fabric, while it has the requisite strength without increasing the thickness of the fabric.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A seam for joining wire fabric parts each having weft wires, comprising a lacing wire passing around the end weft wire only of one fabric part to form a hinge connection, and passing around the second last weft wire of the other fabric part to minimize relative displacement of said lacing wire with respect to said second fabric part.

2. A seam for joining wire fabric parts each having weft Wires, `comprising a lacing wire passing around the end weft wire only of one fabric part to form a hinge connection, and at least some of the loops of the lacing wire passing around a weft wire of the other fabric part spaced from the end weft wire of said part to minimize relative displacement of said lacing wire with respect to said second fabric part.

ALBERT B. WEISSENBORN. WILLIAM E. BUCHANAN. 

